Richard and katje were the peope who made that place, based on highest standards of customer service, and the crazy, wild parties. It had been on the slide ever since they left. The subsequent teams lacked the dedication or charisma, and were barely old enough to drink, let alone run the place. I remember one of the more recent managers saying they didn't want the job, because they were taking on a 'sinking ship'. Well it did sink - let's hope it rises to former glories with the right team of staff.

Richard was fantastic, Katje was great, but Emily was the best, as shown by the fact that she's been moved on to revitalise 2 other pubs. And Jam wasn't sinking, or on the slide. Far from it. I don't work for Antic, but I do hang out with quite a few people who do, and I know that among the Antic staff there has been quite a lot of competition as to who gets to run JC.

I don't think there are many impartials who would agree with that. If you are going to make direct comparisons, didn't Richard in fact train the managers at Antic? And wouldn't that make your assessment somewhat erroneous? It's been shut for 11 months, with the parent company going into admin with multi million pound debts? If that's not sinking .....

Oh tish. It's amazing how many people set out by saying lines along the "most people think that...." when they in fact have no idea what most people think. What they actually mean is that THEY think that..., and most people MUST agree with them. Have you done a survey? No. Well then, don't assume that you know what most people would or would not agree with. But I digress. Richard has definitely trained lots of people - I have no idea whether or not he trained all the JC managers - I'll ask him next time I see him. But even if he did, that doesn't mean that a) everyone he trained would be good - OR b) someone he trained couldn't be a better manager than him. Also, my point about JC not sinking had nothing to do with the finances. It was referencing Pablo's point about JC being "on the slide", and lack of dedication or charisma, which is what I was taking issue with. The staff there have been mostly fabulous, with the odd wildcard. Running the open mic there every month, I got to know them pretty well, and they were hardworking and committed. The open mic session was growing and growing in popularity (and indeed, still is, only down at the Ravensbourne Arms - 26 acts last month!). Emily is now running the Pepper Saint Ontiad in Crossharbour, and as far as I can see is doing a fantastic job. She, as far as I know, is the youngest manager that Antic have ever had, but I have watched her deal expertly with difficult staff, troublesome hooligan kids and horrible customers at JC - it has nothing to do with age.